Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse said Wednesday he’s open to providing state aid to families who want out of the city’s troubled schools.

“Students in the Harrisburg School District deserve access to a quality education, and they have been denied that for too long by the mismanagement of the prior administration,” an emailed statement from Papenfuse said in part.

In doing so, Papenfuse, a Democrat, showed openness to a variation of school vouchers traditionally favored by Republicans but opposed by Democrats.

A Turzai bill, still being written, would require school districts in receivership to provide scholarship grants worth at least half of their per-student state subsidy, coupled with an additional $3,000 direct from the state.

Based on Harrisburg’s current state aid figures, the bill would create grants of about $7,100 per student.

The grants could be used to pay tuition at any private or public school. Public schools, however, would have the ability to opt out of receiving the Harrisburg students, and private schools would retain full discretion to offer admission to children that meet their requirements.

To Turzai, it’s a student-first alternative to repeating a history of cash infusions made to other problem school districts around the state that, in his view, have not noticeably moved the needle in terms of student achievement.

“Let’s actually show that we care about the students and their families, and not a public school monopoly in Harrisburg that continues to fail students,” Turzai said. “The numbers speak for themselves. We want to focus on kids and families, and we want to save them now.”

Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf said he wouldn’t sign the bill, a spokesman said, based on his view it amounts to a voucher program that would divert tax dollars from public schools to private schools, thereby draining resources from the public school.

Democratic State Rep. Patty Kim of Harrisburg also opposes Turzai’s bill, saying he’s using Harrisburg School District’s situation to push a political agenda.

On Wednesday, the school district put out a statement from acting Superintendent John George that also criticizes Turzai’s proposal, saying it would undermine the effort to rebuild the district.

“The court-appointed receiver and the new administration are making significant progress and are aggressively addressing the academic and financial deficiencies that have long plagued the district,” the statement said in part. “By removing additional monies from the school district that is already financially distressed, the proposal seriously disrupts the recovery process and wrecks additional havoc, virtually guaranteeing that the district will forever remain in financial distress.”

Turzai said his bill won’t fully strip struggling districts of state money attached to students who choose to leave, with the districts still getting some state aid for the missing students that can be used toward district operations.

Papenfuse said the bill could be “a lifeline for kids trapped in failing schools.”

“Although there are changes that could make the policy stronger, like putting income limits on families who qualify so we can maximize the impact on those who need the most help, access to quality education is a must,” he said. “We need to have a broader discussion about how to fix public education in places like Harrisburg. But we can’t let an entire generation go without access to quality education in the meantime.”

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